'Barongsai' dance attracts small crowd

JAKARTA (JP): The enchanting performances of orchestra, dance, and the Chinese barongsai dragon dance in the front yard of Fatahillah Museum in West Jakarta on Saturday unfortunately was enjoyed by only a small number of viewers.

The one-day "Old City Tour Performance" was initially aimed at luring more people to see the Betawi (indigenous to Jakarta) ondel-ondel giant puppets, tanjidor and gambang kromong orchestras, and yapong dance in the downtown Kota area. The venue, which is also the Jakarta History Museum, is surrounded by many old buildings and the area has been a tourist center for years.

The performances, which were very popular in the past, were carefully selected by the organizers to evoke the image of Kota in the old days.

Unfortunately, only 200 people turned up on Saturday.

Organizer Husni Said explained that the poor attendance was mainly due to poor preparation, which was only started a week before the event.

"We have no big hopes that our goal has been reached immediately after the event. It was just a try," he said.

Opened by Deputy Governor for Economic and Financial Affairs Fauzie Alvi Yasin, the event was also held to commemorate the recent 472nd city anniversary and the upcoming 52nd Indonesian Independence Day.

The Chinese barongsai dragon dance performance was banned by the new order government in 1974 for political reasons related to the abortive coup blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party.

Thanks to the recent wave of reform, the dance is no longer a problem for the government.

"Of course, we're happy that in the end we can witness our cultural heritage," commented a Chinese-Indonesian viewer from Tanjung Duren in West Jakarta. (ind)